LAS VEGAS  Qualcomm Chief Executive Paul Jacobs said the company still believes there’s a future for its low-power Mirasol reflective display technology aimed at the e-reader market – even though the company does not plan to build the next generation of Mirasol screens itself.

Speaking at a press conference at the International Consumer Electronics Show, Jacobs said Qualcomm will continue to make the current generation of Mirasol displays. He said the company spent about $700 million building a factory in Taiwan to produce the screens.

The San Diego wireless giant had said previously that it would spend up to $1 billion on its Mirasol factory. Jacobs commented that the company didn’t complete a few production lines when its Mirasol strategy changed.

The pure e-reader market has been overwhelmed by tablets, said Jacobs, which rely on bright LCD screens. That has hurt demand for Mirasol.

So for the next generation of Mirasol displays, which Jacobs said would be brighter with more vibrant colors, Qualcomm is looking to license the technology to other display makers rather than build the screens itself.

“That’s the strategy moving forward,” he said. “There is a little bit of uncertainty right now.”

Mirasol technology uses tiny mirrors to reflect natural light, making the screens low power and easy to read in direct sunlight. While Mirasol displays have color and can show video, they’re not nearly as sharp or bright as the screens typically used on tablets and smart phones.

Qualcomm sold Mirasol displays to a handful of e-reader makers in Asia. The screens were not available on devices in the U.S.

Asked in a question and answer session about Qualcomm’s investment in struggling screen maker Sharp, Jacobs said Qualcomm and Sharp have been working together on Qualcomm’s Pixtronix display technology, which aims to cut power consumption in display screens in a different way than Mirasol. The investment, which could reach $120 million, was aimed at keeping that work going, Jacobs said.